Douglas Pauls Sells 2,500 Shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Stock

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $174,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE ESNT opened at $69.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. Essent Group Ltd. has a one year low of $55.34 and a one year high of $70.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Institutional Trading of Essent Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essent Group during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Essent Group during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Essent Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.